UGI Corporation (formerly United Gas Improvement Corp.) is a natural gas and electric power distribution company headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, with extensive operations in the United States and Europe. UGI owns AmeriGas, the largest

propane Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used a ...

marketer in the United States. UGI also owns AvantiGas, Antargaz and Flaga in Europe. UGI also operates interstate and intrastate transmission and natural gas storage assets in the Marcellus Shale.

History

UGI was incorporated in 1882 as United Gas Improvement Co. In 1903, the company owned the majority of the stock of the Equitable Illuminating Gas Light Company, which operated the

Philadelphia Gas Works Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW) is the United States' largest municipally owned natural gas utility. Construction was completed by engineer Samuel V. Merrick on January 22, 1838, and operations continued from the 1800s to the present day. History ...

. The company formed the United Electric Company of New Jersey in 1899. United Electric consolidated several electric and lighting utilities into a single holding company.

Public Service Corporation The Public Service Corporation (PSC) was an energy and transportation company in New Jersey. It was formed to shore up financing and development of New Jersey's streetcar and power companies at a time when they were growing but exhausting capital ...

of New Jersey took over United Electric in 1907. United Electric was ultimately merged into Public Service Enterprise Group. In October 1964, Industrial Gases, Inc., of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, filed an

antitrust Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust l ...

suit in United States district court charging the company with attempting to eliminate competition in sales of bottled

gas in Pittsburgh. The Philadelphia Gas Works division of UGI challenged a ruling of the

Federal Power Commission The Federal Power Commission (FPC) was an independent commission of the United States government, originally organized on June 23, 1930, with five members nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. The FPC was originally created in 1 ...

. The FPC lowered the maximum price that natural gas producers could charge to $0.16 per of gas. This mandate was upheld by the

Supreme Court of the United States The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

in May 1968. In February 1968, the company changed its name to UGI Corporation. In 1993, through its AmeriGas subsidiary, the company acquired Petrolane, which was in

bankruptcy Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

. In 1999, the company offered to acquire Unisource Worldwide, a distributor of office paper, but it was outbid by

Georgia-Pacific Georgia-Pacific LLC is an American pulp and paper company based in Atlanta, Georgia, and is one of the world's largest manufacturers and distributors of tissue, pulp, paper, toilet and paper towel dispensers, packaging, building products and r ...

. On April 1, 2013, John Walsh succeeded Lon Greenberg as president and chief executive officer. In May 2015, the company acquired Totalgaz S.A.'s

liquefied petroleum gas Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG or LP gas) is a fuel gas which contains a flammable mixture of hydrocarbon gases, specifically propane, propylene, butylene, isobutane and n-butane. LPG is used as a fuel gas in heating appliances, cooking e ...

distribution operations in France for €423 million. In October 2017, the company acquired Totalgaz Italia, a

distribution business. In December 2018, the company acquired

South Jersey Industries South Jersey Industries (NYSE: SJI) is a publicly held energy services holding company for a natural gas utility and other, non-regulated companies. SJI's family of companies include: *South Jersey Gas - delivering natural gas to more than 380,00 ...

’s retail natural gas business. On August 1, 2019, the company acquired Columbia Midstream Group for approximately $1.275 billion. On August 21, 2019, the company acquired the portion of AmeriGas that it did not already own. On July 10, 2020, the company acquired GHI Energy LLC, a Houston-based renewable natural gas company. On January 5, 2020, the company acquired ''Mountaineer Gas Company'' of West Virginia for $540 million.

Notable people

* A. O. Granger, UGI president

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ugi Corporation Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Electric power companies of the United States Natural gas companies of the United States Companies based in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania History of Philadelphia 1964 in law American companies established in 1882 1882 establishments in Pennsylvania